MenoPause Blog

Hot flashes and night sweats before menopause

Hear “hot flash” and most of us think of menopause. But reproductive-aged women have them too. How many healthy premenopausal women have vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes and night sweats), and why?

In women ages 45 to 56 with regular menstrual cycles, about 55% have experienced vasomotor symptoms at some point, shows new research in Menopause. The cross-sectional study examined 1,513 women in the Pacific Northwest. Native American women were most likely to report vasomotor symptoms (66.7%), followed by black women (61.4%), and white women (58.3%). Asian and Hispanic women in the study were least likely to report ever having vasomotor symptoms (about 8% and 37%, respectively), similar to the patterns during the menopausal transition and early postmenopause.

Why would premenopausal women have hot flashes? As levels of estrogen go down in the body, numbers of hot flashes go up. Estrogen naturally declines as a woman gets older, especially at menopause. But estrogen levels can fluctuate enough to cause hot flashes years before menopause. Some women have hot flashes right after giving birth. Some may get them from intense exercise or from illness.

The relationship between reproductive status, general health, hormone levels, age, and vasomotor symptoms is complex and needs further investigation. But rest assured that it is perfectly normal to have hot flashes in the years before menopause. If you are still having regular cycles, these vasomotor symptoms do not necessarily mean menopause is beginning.

1 Comment

1
Linda
19 Jun

Hi, I guess this is more of a questin than a comment. I am 48 years old and still having periods although I have never really been regular. I get hot flashes before and during my periods; once in a great while I will get a flash a day or 2 after I stop. Is this considered normal? I can't find literature to answer this directly. maybe its just normal for me.
Thanx, Linda

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